The Academy

Upward Bound conducts an annual four-week Academy (five weeks for Year 3) on the Northern Arizona University campus. The Academy provides an educationally, enriching, residential program, which introduces students from our four target high schools to the university environment while preparing them academically for institutions of higher learning. The major goal of the Academy is to enable students to successfully live in two worlds: their own, with its rich cultural heritage, and the other world of college life.

As with the rest of our program, the Academy emphasizes academics. Applicants who are selected must be committed to completing the full four-week program. Students who successfully complete the program with a C or better will earn one unit of high school elective credit which can be used at their respective high schools toward graduation requirements. Year 3 students will be enrolled in Coconino Community College and receive college credit.

Academic year seniors do not attend the Academy, as they will have graduated from high school. However, it is our hope that these students will attend a summer bridge program at the institution to which they have been accepted.